


Once an ally

by RadikalFox



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-12-26 06:59:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18278159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadikalFox/pseuds/RadikalFox
Summary: They thought the other dead, thought themselves free from war. But Corrin and Azura find themselves once more in the thralls of war in the land of Askr, with and against heroes from worlds of heroes who have won and lost their own wars. Under the banner of prince Alfonse and princess Sharena, both women must learn the allies they once had might be forever enemies now.





	1. Lost

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, Radiklement and FuzziFox speaking. This is our joint account and a story we’ve set out to write together, based off Fire Emblem Heroes.  
> Considering that Radiklement is a shipper maniac for the Fire Emblem series, you can expect a lot of ships. But we will be focusing on two main pairings:  
> Fem!Corrin x Azura  
> Fjorm x Alphonse
> 
> While taking liberties from heroes, we will be following its plot more or less and summoning people from every fire emblem translated in the US. On a side-note, Fire Emblem Fates is taking a very big part of this story, and we’re just pretending Revelations never happened, because NO to Corrin and Azura being cousins. 😉  
> We hope you enjoy!

Her palms crashed against her eyes to shield them against the sharp light that felt like it bored straight into her skull.  She staggered, falling to her knees when the grass beneath her feet vanished causing her to stumble at the nothingness, palms crashing into cold stone. _What?_ Panic began to rise as the sounds of water and birds had vanished, replaced by the throbbing of her own pulse, the hiss of her hyperventilating breath, and the distant din of unfamiliar voices.   _Did someone say my name?_ She felt the fire ripple into her muscles, trying to open her eyes, her vision still swimming with colored splotches that she tried to squint through.  She screamed, the feel of her muscles shifting and bones extending.  Her armor melded against her flesh as the draconian inside overtook her, the blood pumping in her veins fueled by sheer panic.

 

                “Corrin!” _Why do they know my name?_ _Who are they?_ She looked down, the dragon’s blood pulsing through her focusing her vision down to the source of the voice.  She was a young blonde woman, likely little older than herself.  She was clad in pale gold armor with a white overcoat; a dark haired man in similar garb beside her; standing two paces ahead was a red-haired woman with the same uniform.  Behind them was someone in a hooded jacket of the same white and gold pattern.

 

                “Look at _that_! We can just have her eat Veronica !” Anna exclaimed, “are those scales silver? We can equip half our army with just a handful of those!” she took a step forward and Corrin lurched, lowering her head and preparing to strike,

 

                “Anna stop!” The dark-haired man bellowed, reaching out and grabbing her by the back of her collar and jerking her back. The woman glared at him, but he was walking past her, hold up a palm to forestall whatever she was going to say. “Corrin! Please! I will explain everything! I’m sorry we frightened you.”  She hesitated.  They didn’t appear to be from the cult that formed in the wake of Garon’s death.  The Norhian loyalists who didn’t take the defeat of their Dragon King well, and worshiped his memory with fervency that plagued Corrin and Ryoma’s attempts to build and maintain a peace between the war-torn nations. _Where am I?_ she tried to ask, reminded of her draconian form by the rumbles in her throat that replaced words.

 

                “Look… we mean you no harm. I am Alfonse, Prince of Askr. This is my sister, Princess Sharena.  Behind us is Summoner Kiran. And that,” he paused, sighing, is Commander Anna.  We have called you here to ask for your help!” he shouted. _I’m tall not deaf._ Rumbles.  She tried to find her center, her calm, _herself_.  Another rumble in her throat as her bones began to pull back, her muscles warping.  Her whole body ached as it found itself once again.   _Oh gods. That was a mistake_. She bemoaned to herself, wincing as she ignited the fire in her still healing ribs. She fell to her knees again for a moment, but quickly righted herself, pushing the fatigue to the back of her mind.  Her head throbbed, but her hand came to her hip and unsheathed Blazing Yato, holding it at her side, fingers gripping the hilt ready to lift it.

 

                “Tell me again, who are you. Where am I?” she asked.  Alfonse’s eyes flicked down to her sword,

 

                “Please put that away we mean you no harm.” He asked. Corrin nodded in the direction of Anna,

 

                “When she does.” Corrin insisted. Alfonse’s brows knit together and he turned,

 

                “Commander! Please, put your axe away! We mean Corrin no harm!”

 

                “She was a freakin’ dragon!” Anna shouted, muttering under her breath “Not used to people bursting into dragons.” _Such weird accents. I’m nowhere near Norh or Hoshido._ Corrin pondered.   She tightened her grip on her sword, eyes trained on the woman still holding her weapon.

 

                “ _Commander_.” He stated again.  Anna rolled her eyes and put her axe into its sling on her back, shrugging and holding up her palms. _She’s right to be afraid. I used to not be able to control this_.  She remembered the first time the dragon overtook her, when fear and rage gripped her heart at the sight of her birth mother slain before her. She reached a palm over her chest, where the dragonstone she wore around her neck was secured beneath her armor.

 

                “I’m not going to use it Corrin. You just surprised me.” Anna shouted.

 

                “Where am I?”

 

                “Askr.  We have much to tell you. But you must be exhausted, come with us.” Alfonse tried to soothe. Corrin paused, looking at the strangers.

“How did I get here? Why am I here?” she asked, heart beginning to race again.   _What’s just happened to me? Am I dead?_   She looked up and around for familiar faces. Her siblings, her friends. Those she lost to the senseless war with her mad father. But they weren’t there. Xander, Elise, Kaze, Lilith, Azura.

 

                “We brought you here. Please… let’s go get somewhere more comfortable.” Alfonse beckoned.  Corrin hesitated, and took a look around her.  Nothing was familiar.  She stood upon a large stone altar decorated with blue glass, the statue of a tree engraved into a tall grey arch in the center.  Beyond it, to what appeared to be the east, was nothing but a thick forest of trees.  Behind the trio begging her to come with them was a complex tent-city that put the war camps she had come to know over the past four years to the forefront of memory.

 

                “Come on, we have mead! That’ll calm that dragon of yours!” the blonde woman in the group finally chimed in. She smiled broadly, reaching a hand out to Corrin.  She paused before reaching out her own hand to accept it, the woman closing her fingers tightly around her hand and shaking it vigorously. “I’m Sharena! You’ll like it here in Askr, I promise.  I know this must be… jarring. But let’s go have a drink, some good food, and we’ll explain everything.” Corrin stood rooted to the spot, toes curling.

 

                “Your feet must be freezing!” Sharena announced.  Corrin quirked a brow and tilted her head, looking down at her bare feet.

 

                “Oh,” she looked down at her feet, where the leggings she wore beneath her armor ended in a tight cuff around her ankles, her feet bare. “No, I feel fine.” She insisted.

 

                “Wait are you barefoot all the time?” Anna asked, crossing her arms.

 

                “Well, yes.” She answered.

 

                “That must be so freeing! I’ve got to try that!” she declared.  “Probably can run better too!”

 

                “Anna…” Alfonse groaned, squinting his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose. “Please, Corrin.  You seem like a good judge of character, so trust your instinct and follow us.” He tried to ignore Anna muttering to herself beside him about the merits of carrying her boots back to camp to try this new barefoot thing. “We’ll get you something to eat, drink, and you look like you need sleep.” He added after Sharena nudged him.  Corrin glanced around once more in search of a familiar face, or landmark. _Seems I have little choice_. She mused.

 

                “As long as you explain to me what I’m doing here.” She narrowed her eyes, and peered through them all. “You’ve been quiet.” She remarked to the hooded person introduced as Kiran.

 

                “I have nothing to add.” Kiran answered and shrugged. The voice was masculin.  _Okay.  Two men two women_. Corrin counted.

 

                “Oh stop being so brooding, it doesn’t really suit you.” Sharena asked, pouting her lip getting only a shrug in reply causing her to scoff and roll her eyes.

 

                “I haven’t slept for three nights!” he shouted, suddenly more animated. “How the three of you are so spritely is beyond me.  Now before we panic this poor girl any more let’s go feed her and explain a few things.” He suggested.

 

                “That’s the spirit! Come on!” Sharena waved her hand, Corrin finally stepping forward to follow the trio. She wondered what her brother Xander would tell her. _Don’t trust them_. She could almost hear his voice in her head; Elise’s voice countering with _Oh stop being so mean! They seem nice!_ The two were striking opposites.  Her chest ached at the thought that all she had of them were these echoes in her head. The others swam to her mind again.  Kaze, Lilith, Azura.  She struggled to fight this. Move on.  _Look ahead, not back._

 

                The four led her away from the alter, down a staircase and through rows of tents until they reached a large white and gold tent, the opening lined with banners that she assumed bore the symbol of their nation. _What was it again? Askr?_ She mused.  Alfonse opened the tent flap and gestured for her to go inside, Anna stepping ahead first and clapping him hard on the shoulder,

 

                “Thanks!” and went in.  The man rolled his eyes and gestured again, eyes narrowed at his companion.  Corrin went in and was surprised at the warmth inside the tent.  Anna was sitting in a chair already pulling at the clasps of her boots to kick them off, Sharena sitting down opposite her and patting the chair beside her.  Corrin approached and took the seat closest to the tent flap, and felt a flash of guilt at the disappointed expression on Sharena’s face when she sat so far away from the others.  Alfonse sat next to his sister, Kiran next to Anna.

 

                “So, where’s the grub? Didn’t we offer to feed the dragon?” Anna grunted while tugging a boot.

 

                “Please don’t call me that.”

 

                “Would you prefer lizard?” she asked, lifting a brow and Corrin couldn’t tell whether she was serious.  She opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by Alfonse,

 

                “I’ll have someone bring some food.” He got up to leave the tent, Anna shaking her head.

 

              “Well we can at least start with some bread and mead while he finds something a bit yummier.” She remarked.  She extended her legs and wiggled her toes for a moment before standing.

 

                “I really feared for a second there you were going to put those feet on the table.” Sharena admitted.

 

                “Oh come on, even I have better table manners than that!” She snapped back.  She walked several paces to a table and grabbed a loaf of bread and a bottle of gold liquid as well as all the glasses she could manage to fit in her grip.  “I see why you like this barefoot thing.” She cheered, offering Corrin a smile and a glass.  She handed the others to Sharena and Kiran, pointing out that Alfonse would have to fetch his own.  “I’m his commander not his retainer.” She remarked. She started pouring everyone from the bottle,

 

                “You’re pouring everyone’s mead. Sure you’re not our retainer?” Kiran asked. Anna narrowed her eyes at him, and sat back down placing the bottle back down.

 

                   “Well you and Sharena can pour your own mead then.” She huffed. “So grouchy today. So. Down to business. Corrin,”

 

                “Shouldn’t we wait for Alfonse?” Sharena interrupted. Corrin was watching the banter carefully, her glass clasped between her hands with her thumbs running over the rim to try and reign in her restlessness _.  I need to get back home.  Everyone still needs me._

 

                “Nah he’ll just brood down the mood like snarky over there.” Anna thumbed over at Kiran, and even with part of his face obscured by a hood Corrin could make out the way he scrunched up his expression. “Look you’re not here by accident. We summoned you.” She blurted.

 

                “Way to ease her into it…” Kiran mumbled, but Anna carried on, Sharena leaning on her arms over the table watching carefully.

 

                “We’ve been at war with a girl named Veronica.  She has the ability to pull heroes from all different realities.  She’s taking over Askr and surrounding nations, I’ll not be getting into all the complicated political and geographical crap now, that boring stuff is Alfonse’s job. She’s been working with a man named Xander,” Corrin’s face blanched at the name, stomach roiling.   _Oh gods just hearing the name hurts_.  _It’s not an uncommon name Corrin, settle yourself!_ She chided, trying to listen.  But behind her eyelids she could only see Xander. Elise. Her siblings.  Her family. Gone. “Since he’s your brother and you kicked his ass once, we figured you’d be able to help us create an effective strategy to stop their army-“

 

                “What?!”

_._._._._

 

              Alfonse walked back into the tent to see Corrin standing up, her eyes shooting daggers at both Sharena and Anna. Kiran would have been a target too if he hadn’t fallen asleep, and he remained stubbornly asleep, with his face laying on the table as Corrin’s ire rolled off her rising voice.

 

               “Are you people insane?! I lost Xander once, I’m not going to help anyone kill him in this… weird land! Why is he even here?!”

 

               _So much for going easy on her_ , Alfonse thought.

 

               “We didn’t mean it like that!” his sister instantly tried to appease her.

 

               “Are you suggesting you’ll simply _capture_ him?” Corrin clearly thought it ludicrous and with how strong her older brother had proven so far, Alfonse knew she had a point. She went on, her words betraying how shaken she still was, “I just finished one war, I know how many casualties they involve!”

 

              Corrin whipped around, breaking into a run in her rush to get away from them. Alfonse stood before the tent flap, resolutely blocking her way.

 

               “Please, I understand that you’ve been through a lot, but we’re not fighting because we want to. Veronica’s army has been endangering my people, our people,” the prince of Asker explained, exchanging a brief look with his sister and their commander.

 

              Corrin took a step back from his extended hand, the look in her eyes reminding him of what a wounded animal looked like.

 

               “You’re asking for too much. What would you do if you had to fight against your own sister? Would you just plot against one another?”

 

              The question was an actual punch to the gut, but Alfonse didn’t stumble, holding his voice steady, his eyes hard and resolute.

 

               “If Sharena was to hurt our people, I would stop her,” he declared.

 

              The heaviness underneath the tent was palpable and Sharena quickly approved her brother’s words.

 

               “I’d do the same if it was Alfonse turning evil,” the blond princess explained, raising her fists with conviction.

 

              Corrin couldn’t help a wince, “Xander isn’t evil.”

 

              If her brother was here, he most certainly felt terribly lost. And how was she to know Veronica and Xander weren’t on the good side of this battle? Like there really was a good and a bad side. How she wished things were this clean cut back home.

 

               “I’m sorry, Corrin, that was badly said,” Sharena apologized. “Since you defeated him once, we thought… well, we assumed… Gosh, I’m not helping our cause, am I? We are strangers plucking you from your home to pitch you against a family member, it’s really awful!”

 

              Alfonse frowned, doubting this admission was going to help them.

 

               “There must be something we can do…” Anna muttered. “As long as it’s not money…”

 

              Corrin gasped and Alfonse quickly stepped in, seeing as things were going downhill fast.

 

               “Corrin, Lady Corrin,” he blurted out, hoping that the use of a title might put her just a little more at ease, “you have a right to question our motivations. You can ask us as many questions as you want…”

 

              Kiran’s snoring was getting very disturbing, but it was the freshly summoned princess who cut off Alfonse.

 

               “I _don’t_ have questions for you. For all I know, you could be in league with Iago and trying to push me into doing something that would hurt the fragile balance Ryoma has been working on so hard”

 

               “Who’s Iago?” Anna asked, Sharena nodding to show her own confusion.

 

               “What can we do to ease your doubts, Corrin?”

 

               “Let me talk to Xander,” she decided, barely containing the shaking in her shoulders.

 

              How surreal was it that she could ask for this? Was anyone else she’d lost also here? How unfair for Camilla and Leo that they couldn’t see Xander one last time when maybe _she_ would…

 

              Alfonse’s mouth hung open at first, his mind going over the very few possibilities that would make talking to the enemy’s commander possible. Just snatching away a piece of his purple cape had taken an insane amount of luck. He hated to base any plan on luck and knew this time around, things wouldn’t be as simple.

 

               “If preparing a ceasefire was that easy, don’t you think we would have done it already?” Anna observed.

 

              Corrin shook her head.

 

               “I can surely go find him on my own!”

 

               “Oh no, wait, wait, Alfonse, catch her!” Sharena begged her brother.

 

              The white-haired princess was fragile on her feet, needing more than bread to recover from the emotional shock of her summoning to a foreign land. She still landed a mighty punch in Alfonse’s jaw, spit and blood flying, Kiran roused by the three violent gasps or outright cry of surprise following.

 

               “What the hell?” he mumbled.

 

              He saw the silver and black armor of his most recent summon rushing out of the tent, the left flap torn open in her haste, while the prince he served righted his balance, face red and his lower lip split open.

 

               “Whoa!”

 

               “Alfonse, are you okay?!” Sharena instantly asked.

 

               “You just got sucker punched by a girl!” Anna couldn’t help laughing at the look on his face, already half across the space beneath the tent as she threw over her shoulder. “I’ll get her right away!”

 

“Don’t… hurt her,” Alfonse managed, blinking the shock away.

 

               _Damn_ did he want that girl as an ally, and not an enemy, if that was what she could do without a weapon.

 

              In the tent-city of the large camp, Corrin had no real landmark, even though she’d focused on her surroundings as best as she could while being guided here. Her heart was beating fast, her breath ragged from the sudden exertion and she was hoping she could put distance between herself and the pair of royals. She’d just punched a prince, one of the leaders of this so-called Order of heroes. She wasn’t going to wait until heroes from gods-know-where rushed at her with their blades and axes raised. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been allowed to join in a battle and now she was supposed to go back?

 

              Wasn’t there enough blood on her hands as it was?

 

              She had trained with Takumi and Hinoka, grieving for everyone they had lost, wondering if she had led her friends properly or made a mistake along the way.

 

              Right now wasn’t the time to linger on sad memories though. She took a right, and a hard left, hoping she could find the larger row splitting the camp that would lead her back to that summoning stone. Maybe she could reactivate it with her dragon blood? Or should she try to find a village and ask around for the whereabouts of Veronica’s army?

 

               “Corrin?!” A small voice squeaked, surprise clear in the way the tiny creature held its breath.

 

              Water splashed and crimson and sapphire-blue scales shifting with the impatient wave of their owner. Her bare feet froze on the cold stones surrounding the pond where the creature was bathing, Corrin staring with widening eyes.

 

              Golden eyes stared back, the small dragon raising on its legs, its large head moving from side to side as it recognized her.

 

               “Lilith!? You’re alive!”

 

              Corrin couldn’t help herself, moving forward, arms outstretched, tears threatening to fall as she was overwhelmed with joy. Her friend, her good old maid, her dear Lilith was here.

 

               “Why would you…” Lilith started, slowly realizing what that question was about.

 

               “Oh. Oh! You were just summoned by Alfonse and Sharena, weren’t you?”

 

              Corrin found herself nodding and she quickly checked their surroundings, spotting Anna rushing toward them.

 

               “Lilith, have those people hurt you in any way?”

 

               “What? No, everyone’s been really nice to me! There’s so much to talk about! I’ve missed you a lot since they summoned me, but even though I can’t fight in this form, I’ve made friends with all of them. Sharena gives me the best head-rubs!”

 

               “Head-rubs?” Corrin repeated, before to oomph as Anna tackled her to the ground with a victorious “Ha-ha! That will teach you for punching the prince like that, Corrin!”

 

              They hit their heads, the Hoshidan’s bruised ribs protesting the rough treatment while Anna grumbled something about a weird flowery scent.

 

               “Let… go of me…” Corrin managed through clenched teeth, pain hissing on her breath.

 

              Lilith jumped out of the water, her long tail slapping Anna in the face to push her off the princess, baring her teeth as she climbed on the silver-haired girl.

 

               “Don’t hurt Corrin!”

 

               “Oww, oww, I’m sorry, I yield!” Anna agreed, shielding her face with one arm while moving backward.

 

              Lilith glared at Anna, humming the air in the hope she could sense what was wrong with her friend. Corrin couldn’t move, holding herself with one arm, fighting against the white shots of pain wracking through her. She’d wished her ribs were already healed, otherwise she would have been able to react better, but this was just too much at once, her wounds too raw. Running footsteps echoed at the edge of her mind and she somehow acknowledged that Alfonse and Sharena had finally caught up to them, Kiran not far behind.

 

               “Oh, you found Lilith! Is everything alright?” the blond asked, crouching in front of the scene to catch her breath and be at eye-level with Lilith.

               Anna was rubbing at her red cheek and started answering, but the small dragon spoke first.

 

               “How could you let her run around like this? Corrin’s hurt. We had agreed you would take better care of my friends, Sharena.”

 

               “I’ll be fine,” Corrin whispered.

               “Okay. But if you need to see a healer, all you need to do is say so. No need to suffer in silence,” Alfonse told her.

 

              Anna muttered something about needing a healer herself, but Sharena focused on the situation at hand.

 

               “Lilith,” she whispered. “Would you be willing to explain the situation to Corrin? About how we summoned you and the battles we’ve fought so far. We’d really like for her to help us, but I also want her to be at ease.”

 

              And we started on the wrong foot,” Alfonse sighed.

 

               “Of course, I’ll talk to her!” The dragon exclaimed. “We should go to my tent! And don’t gang up on her like that, I remember how overwhelmed I was when I first got here.”

 

              Kiran offered his help to Anna while the pair of royals from Askr stayed behind to make sure both of their summoned guests would be okay. When Corrin tried getting to her feet, she stumbled and Sharena rushed to her help, offering her shoulder as support.

 

               “What happened to you?” the blonde princess asked.

 

               “Cracked ribs from a battle against a mad dragon the size of a castle,” Corrin explained.

 

               “By the gods! I’ve never faced a dragon that big! Or any dragon. Alfonse, did you hear that?!”

 

              Alfonse nodded with a chuckle. Somehow, seeing these two interact together made Corrin feel at home. She missed her siblings terribly, but at least Lilith was here. Stepping into the small tent reserved for the astral dragon, Sharena helped Corrin sit down in a pile of cushions Lilith had quickly gathered for her. Fresh vegetables waited in a large tray and the colors on the small pieces of furniture reminded the silver-haired princess of her Nohrian home.

 

               “We’ll let you two catch up. If you want, we can have a bedroll delivered to this tent, Corrin,” Alfonse offered.

 

              The idea of sleeping during the day shocked her, but she settled as Lilith sounded happy to hang out with her as much as she could. It had taken her a moment to understand that this Lilith wasn’t the Lilith she knew. After all it was impossible. People weren’t summoned to foreign lands when they died… Or were they?

 

              Once Sharena and Alfonse took their leave, Lilith gave Corrin some time to adjust herself to the new environment, waiting for her first question. It reminded the Hoshidan of how patient Lilith had always been with her as she grew up.

 

               “How long have you been here?” Corrin finally asked.

 

              Lilith gave her that pointy toothed smile that was so endearing.

 

               “For over 8 months already. My Corrin had just started leading an army…” They both winced, and the small dragon apologized. “It’s going to sound weird, but I can tell you’re not the Corrin from my world. You’ve seen a lot of horrors, haven’t you?”

 

               “I’ve lost a lot of people,” Corrin confirmed, fighting against the knot in her throat to keep her voice steady. “Including you.” Lilith nodded, taking it in stride, so the Hoshidan went on. “We lost Xander. I was running earlier because of what they asked of me. I can’t fight my brother…”

 

              Lilith lowered her eyes at first, her tail unfurling from around her, waving around as an idea popped in her mind.

 

               “So then, don’t fight him! Your brother will be surprised to see you too, Corrin. No matter what happened in his version of our world, he’ll know you. But you must keep in mind that Veronica’s soldiers are all subjugated by a very dark magic. The heroes she summons. They don’t get to chose on whether they want to fight for her or not. I’m glad it was Alfonse, Sharena, Kiran and Anna summoning me here. I don’t know what that little girl would have done to me.”

 

               “Veronica is a little girl?!”

 

              There was so much to learn about this new world. And so much darkness in it too. Corrin was far from done with the shocks.

 

               _But who am I to judge a little girl leading an army? I’ve just been there…_

 

…

 

              They had tried to explain it, and she could understand it on the surface, but all of it seemed just too confusing for Corrin.  What world was she in that such powerful objects existed as these summoning orbs? They could call out and rip a person straight out of their own reality. _Impartial to what’s going on.  We just endured a war, I haven’t woken up from that nightmare and I’m in a new one_ she couldn’t help feeling bitter, and could have sworn she could hear Elise’s voice in the back of her head telling her that this mopey girl wasn’t her big sister Corrin. Azura asking her to smile.  Xander telling her to be stronger. She squinted, trying to push the faces and the memories away so she could focus on what was ahead of her.

               “Through there,” Alfonse’s voice jerked her back to the present.  They were on a lightly worn path through a sparse forest, and now that she was trying to focus on her surroundings Corrin could see that there was a crumbled pile of stone that once may have been called a wall nearly obscured by the snowfall.  The trees had started to thin out during the last two kilometers of their walk  She nodded in acknowledgement, hearing in her mind Elise asking where her talkative sister is hiding. They led their horses through an opening in the wall and dismounted on the edge of the ruins.

                The forest had reclaimed much of it, collapsed and crumbled stone structures coated in a layer of moss beneath the snow.  Corrin suspected that the rooves of some structures must have been thatch that rotted away eons ago, leaving the shells of former houses standing like open boxes. It was difficult to fully take in the area, snow and new growth obscuring much of their surroundings, the brush underfoot making walking difficult.

                “You need boots?” Shareena asked, “since you always run around barefoot I packed an extra pair.” Corrin looked down at her feet and shrugged,

                “No. But thank you, that is a kind offer.” She answered the blonde woman, who shrugged and smiled, reaffirming that the offer would still stand should she change her mind.

                “I don’t know how you do it.  I’m freezing even in my boots.” Sharena continued.  She had tried to insist Corrin wear boots to ward off the danger of frostbite and the dragon-woman had tried to humor her by wearing them. But the boots lent to her had felt half a size too small and after several hours she had taken them off when riding their horses, promising to don them again before stomping through the snow.   

                “Come on, let’s go.” Alfonse suggested. “These places make me feel… leery.” They had been riding north for four days, and the prolonged period away from camp was making the young man agitated, each day spent on the road meant another day traveling back.  He had only wanted to be away for a week, but the storm that dropped this snow had halted their travel for a day and he was anxious to get this mission over with and return back to camp.

                “I only feel leery if this ruin is another dud. Did the kings of old never hear of gold?! I thought dragons hoarded shiny things like gold and jewels?” Anna asked, planting her hands on her hips and looking around. “There’s got to be something other than orbs lying around.” She tisked.

                “You act like the orbs are meaningless.” Alfonse chastised.

                “Oh don’t get me wrong, they’re pretty damn useful. But just _once_ I’d like to find a lost treasure.” She clarified. “Soldiers are nice, but pretty useless if we don’t give them pointy things to stick in the other guys and armor to protect them from the other guys’ pointy things. And after all the work I’ve done I think I deserve a little bonus.” She huffed.  “Well. Let’s get started.” She added quickly to cut off a protest from Alfonse, sure that he was going to chastise her for her attitude. “Hey, Lizard.”

                “Excuse me?” Corrin asked, quirking a brow.

                “I’m just trying to make you settle down a little,” Anna pat her shoulder.

                “I don’t think calling her Lizard is a good way to do that…” Sharena suggested.

                “Point remains lizard-girl,” Anna started, and Corrin could have sworn she heard _that’s not much better_ mumbled from behind her. “do dragons just hoard gold? Can you find it?”

                “I’m not a tracking dog for gold.” Corrin answered. “And I spent much of my life in one tower.  The library I had access to had almost nothing on my dragon ancestors so I can’t really answer your question.” She provided, and made to try and catch up with Alfonse who had clearly decided to give up on the girls and started setting to their task at hand.

                “What specifically am I looking for?” Corrin asked.  He had already explained to her that these orbs seemed to emanate from an old source of magic, their best scholars were still trying to research the objects.  She felt unsettled at the idea of using such a magic that they didn’t fully understand, but occupying herself with a task felt better than lying in her cot lost in thought and memory while Lilith did her best to try and cheer her. She could hear Azura in the back of her mind trying to reassure her that these people meant her no harm, and to allot them her trust.

                 “We’ve been to this particular place before. The orbs have tended to be a bit… scattered.  Between time, looters, monsters. We’ve gone through most of this place but had to revisit it because of Mogalls showing up at night.” Alfonse explained.

                “Yeah, the little brats like to eat our orbs! Maybe some dragon blood got into the monsters too somehow.” Anna suggested. She had her axe slung over her shoulder, and when Alfonse looked behind him he groaned at the sight.

                “Please treat that axe with respect.” Alfonse chastised, getting a pout from his red-haired companion.  With an exaggerated sigh she held her weapon less casually, widening her eyes and jutting her jaw as if to say _better?_ with an open palmed gesture. Apparently satisfied he turned his attention back to his surroundings, looking for something Corrin wished he had described better; said woman trying to hide a smirk when she looked over her shoulder and saw Anna swing her axe right back over her shoulder.

                The small retinue moved into the center of the fallen structures, things growing more defined the deeper they progressed.  Alfonse suggested looking for something that may have once been a library or a laboratory, and Corrin found herself wondering how that would even be possible unless they found books somehow intact after so long exposed to the elements, or laboratory objects not already picked by looters. _Need a new book from the library?_ She squinted hard to try and push away Elise’s voice echoing in her memory, cheerily volunteering Camilla to recommend something new. _You hated reading Elise._ She thought, and a sad smile found its way onto her face.  Her elder sister always tried to push romance novels on her, and it was Leo who would bring her something more to her taste.

                “Corrin?”  She turned to the blonde woman who had come up to her, Alfonse and Anna searching the area.

                “Just thinking about my siblings.” She answered honestly. Sharena frowned, and pat Corrin on the shoulder offering a _sorry_ and a sympathetic smile.  Something about her seemed honest, or at the very least as bad a liar as she was. “I’m okay. Happy memories,” she insisted.

                “Hey I think I got something!” Anna called, drawing her companions near. She had wandered through a broken doorway into what once have been a room only about the size of two of their tents.  The one mostly intact wall had deep holes in it from the layout of the stone, and appeared to be a makeshift series of shelves built into the room itself.  “As good a guess as any” she offered, pointing to the wall.

                “A good place to start” Alfonse approved. “Let’s start digging.  And not with your axe!”

                “Well you’re no fun.” She huffed. She set the axe down, hands on her hips. “Then with what?” she asked.

                “Grab the latrine spade.”  He suggested.

                “Huh… feel silly not thinking of that.” He admitted.  Corrin pondered the wisdom of shifting into a dragon, sure that her claws could make quick work of the semi-frozen ground and save everyone a significant amount of labor trying to dig in with their small latrine spade.  A moan snapped her attention, the startle nearly causing her to shift with it so close to the forefront of her mind. _Calm down._ She chided.

                “I have an idea.” Corrin offered. “With my dragon stone when I want to, I can keep my head on straight when I turn into a dragon. I can probably dig faster than that spade.” Alfonse looked contemplative, but the expression on his face flinched when Anna gave an approving whoop.

                “Heck yeah! That’ll speed this up! Maybe we’ll even find buried treasure….” She trailed off, looking at the ground and Corrin wondered if the woman expected gold and jewels to spontaneously shoot up from the ground. Alfonse relented that it was probably a good idea and would get their task accomplished sooner, Sharena declaring her excitement of seeing Corrin turn into a dragon _without_ wanting to kill her and her brother.

                “Kiran is sure missing out!” Anna declared watching the transformation happen. Everyone stepped away from Corrin, and when she looked down at them she could see the tense ways they held themselves, but turned her attention to the frozen ground and scratched at it.  It was hard, but early enough in the season that the soil gave way with some effort.  She began to dig, a rumbling in her throat at the effort.

                “Should I still get the spade?” Sharena asked after a minute of watching, shifting her stance between her legs with her lips quirked into a half-frown. “Feels unfair to have Corrin doing all the work.” She added when she felt her companions eyes burning holes into her.

                “I’m enjoying the break.” Anna insisted. “Besides, one hand… paw… claw? is scooping away five spadefuls of dirt a go!”  She looked up when a deep noise reverberated through Corrin’s elongated throat. “See? She agrees! Take it easy!”

                “Still feels wrong.” Alfonse answered, agreeing with his sister. But he couldn’t pose a realistic argument.  The small spade would make little progress compared to the work the dragon was already doing.

                “We should take her on treasure hunts! Look at her go!” Anna cheered. A few more swipes at the dirt and Corrin chirped, the higher-pitched sound startling her companions who had been listening to the low rumbles.  Alfonse took this as a clue, and looked into the hole corrin had made.  Her claws had felt something hard, too warm to be ice, and had drawn back to investigate. Her eyes fell upon a multicolored sphere partially buried in the dirt,

                “You did it Corrin!” Alfonse reached out and pat the Dragon’s leg, forcing a smile through the nervousness written into his face with knit brows and wide pupils. Corrin tried to step back in the limited space that she had, another excited chirp when she saw Alfonse pull an orb from the ground. “We got one!” he announced, and held it out to Anna. “Stop giving me that look, we both know these are more valuable than any gold we can find.” He added. She rolled her eyes and admitted her agreement. Corrin’s head turned sharply when she heard the same moan from before, her more sensitive draconian ears able to distinguish it much easier.

                “You hear that?” she asked, the rumbles coming out reminding her of her form and she shifted back, pressing a hand against her temple and began to look around for the sound, hoping to hear it again. “moaning.” she clarified when she saw how confused her companions appeared to be.  An echo of the sound had everyone looking around, and Alfonse suggesting they wait to dig for orbs until they figured out what this sound was, and eliminated what was most likely a threat.

                “Monsters drawn to the orbs?” Corrin asked.  He nodded, and soon the three women were following the Prince outside.

                “By the gods!” Sharena yelped after they started pacing around.  They all gave her chase, shouting confused series of _what is it?!_ with weapons drawn and preparing for a fight. “It’s a woman! She appears hurt!” They all came around and looked down at the blonde woman lying in the snow, hand clutched over her side as she moaned between rapid breaths. Her short hair was pink in places, frozen with odd patterns, blotches of dried blood spattered on her face.  More stained her blue-trimmed white dress, the other side of her bearing scorched fabric and bearing the unmistakable stench of burnt flesh. Her face was partially swollen, obscuring her features and sealing one of her eyes shut, the other blearily looking up as her arm shook and tried to lift the lance sunken into the snow beside her, the fingers curled around it pale blue from being buried in the cold.

To be continued…


	2. Trapped

 

Alfonse’s battle instincts kicked in, the young man quickly scanning their surroundings before giving out his orders.

“Anna, Corrin, could you survey the area? Just in case the people who did this to her are still around. Sharena, we’re going to need warm water.”

“O… okay!” His sister answered, trying to spot pieces of wood that would help her in starting a fire.

He had more knowledge in first aid among the four of them, and he knew he could count on Anna to be careful if she spotted any kind of danger. His steps were still careful as he closed in on the wounded girl, showing her his empty hands.

“I’m prince Alfonse of Askr,” he greeted her quickly. “I have a few vulneraries on me and would like to offer assistance. You can let go of the lance.”

Her pale blue eye stared at him for a long time, a shiver running through her entire body as she fought against the overwhelming pain. He spotted dried tears on one side of her face, anger seething inside. Was he asking for too much by hoping for a world where everyone could stay safe?

The blonde tried to speak up, but the only sound coming out of her was a shuddering moan and Alfonse kneeled next to her, quickly asserting the damage. She was wearing a torn cape laced with feathers that had once been white, graying with ashes from the fire she’d been exposed to. Blood stains on the snow traced her fragile steps up to her resting spot, the prince wondering why the symbols drawn on her clothes reminded him of something. Everything about her looked foreign.

“You must be freezing, and we need to stop the bleeding,” he said, gesturing for the wound she was holding.

She blinked as quickly as possible, whimpering at the throbbing that came from behind her eye. Everything hurt. Alfonse removed his white cape, setting it in a bundle to support her head. He offered her water, gathering from the cracks on her lips that she had been running for a while. The poor thing was too weak to offer much resistance, merely tensing as a reflex, her trembling weak, her voice crackling on every sound she mustered. She coughed up on her second gulp, Alfonse taking away the gourd, turning his attention to the wound on her side.

“I… F…Fjorm,” she managed.

“Is that your name? Fjorm,” he repeated. “We’re going to look after you now.”

“The coast is clear,” Anna called out from behind him, Fjorm jumping in fright.

Alfonse could only wonder if those wounds were due to a run-in with bandits or something much more sinister.

“We’ll have a fire started in no time. I’ll melt snow,” Sharena suggested, taking out the small bowl she had tucked in her travel bag.

Alfonse focused on Fjorm, unsure whether he could move her around.

“Anything broken?” he asked her.

She shook her head, blond hair moving around, rough and sticking in places. Taking off his gloves, he noticed just how wet and frozen her clothes were.

“This can’t be good. How long have you been out like this?”

Fjorm blinked at him, her eye losing focus, the shivers remaining, her breathing laborious. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that Corrin had taken it upon herself to mount up a tent.

“The girl clearly needs fresh clothes and to be out of the cold,” Anna observed.

“I don’t…” Fjorm tried speaking up.

She had to be quite overwhelmed.

And overwhelmed she was. The young man, Alfonse was it? He encouraged her to keep pressure on her wound, lifting her in his arms with a grunt. The blonde girl he called Sharena took the lance from her hand, promising she would keep it close to her. Fjorm couldn’t fully understand the other two voices, her hearing spotty, and _everything_ ached. The burned flesh on her side was throbbing and her fingers tingled from being touched by Sharena.

“Is this frostbite, Alfonse?”

Fjorm had a protest ready, because the cold couldn’t hurt her, the cold was familiar and so much better than the fire set ablaze on her skin but her voice was a weak moan, unbefitting of a princess and her brain was jumping back and forth from her time in a cell. The guards hadn’t carried her like this then. She would be hurtled and shoved around, the princesses visiting her sneering and mocking her weak pleas. What should have been negotiations had become a nightmare and she wanted to wake up or to just sleep without a single dream, without any hint of pain wrecking through her.

“It’s the early stage of it. Hold the flap open for me?”

Sharena did, Fjorm wincing as the movement jostled her weary bones. Her muscles were spasming in an attempt of keeping her warm and her feet felt frozen in her boots. She wished she could have gathered more layers, she wished she hadn’t tripped on her feet a dozen times as she ran for her life, but she was this weak, pathetic pile of shivers now and there was no fixing it by herself.

_I’m a burden again. The first official mission my sister gives me, I blunder and now I’m having other people look after me!_

Alfonse laid her down as gently as he could, his hand warm against her forehead. She was chilled down to the bones. Was that why everything was so blurry when she managed to blink her eye open?

“We’ll dress that wound and get you changed into dry clothes,” Sharena explained after shooing her brother out of the tent.

“We…?” Fjorm croaked.

“The name’s Anna. Are you a princess in distress from another kingdom? Your clothes look way too sophisticated for it to be anything else.”

“I…”

Tears fell down as Fjorm thought of her people. Gunnthrá had no way of knowing what had happened to her, she might still believe the treaty was taking place, but every member of her retinue had been killed and Fjorm had found herself with no other choice but to run once she had reclaimed her lance.

“Don’t bully her, Anna, she’s in shock,” Sharena reminded her friend.

“Just trying to make conversation,” the commander shot back as she struggled with Fjorm’s boots.

Sharena couldn’t help a gasp of horror as the cloak came off, pulling on the raw skin, exposing bruising all over the young woman, and a long gash that was at least superficial. The scorch marks ran from her shoulder to her mid-thigh.

“I hope our clerics will be able to fix that for you. I’ll clean you up quick.”

Fjorm tried to hold on to her consciousness, but the pain was getting too much and she faded in and out.

Standing outside, Alfonse tried to gather some sort of clue to the wounded girl, Corrin spotting a spark among the snow first.

“Look what I found!”

It was a small circlet of gold with a diamond shaped sapphire nestled inside an array of gold.

“I think she might be from Nifl,” Alfonse whispered, finally recognizing the emblem he’d seen on her tattered clothes. “She’s a very long way from home.”

Corrin felt sorry for the so-called Fjorm, but couldn’t help wondering what her various sibilings would have done in front of the same situation in comparison with Alfonse. He hadn’t even questioned the idea of helping her. Takumi would have been on his guard, expecting a trap. Leo would have said it was looking for trouble, but she knew extending a hand was the only way she ever wanted to answer.

They stood in silence for a while, Alfonse checking the fire, fighting against his urge to pace impatiently.

“What do you know about Nifl?” Corrin asked him.

If she was stuck in this world, she might as well try to understand it a little.

“They were in a war with Muspell. I don’t know neither kingdoms very well,” he admitted. “The news doesn’t get this far.”

“There’s a lot of turmoil in this world,” Corrin sighed.

Alfonse felt a pang of guilt at her comment.

“Like I said before, I don’t intend to force you to battle if you’d rather not. If we weren’t in such need of help, I wouldn’t be summoning people away from their home.”

“The other heroes you called so far. I bet they’ve handled it well after all?” she suggested.

The prince gave a stilted shrug.

“Most of them have. It takes time… Don’t rush yourself, okay?”

Corrin didn’t like the impression he treated her like a wounded child. She had been protected for so long, it had kept her away from all the truths she needed to take the correct decisions.

“If I came all the way out here, it’s because I feel ready to face the music. I could never sit still back home.”

Alfonse had no words for that, his eyes turning to the tent where Anna and Sharena were treating the wounded noble. Corrin couldn’t rest easy with the silence and wondered if they’d ever summoned a hero who’d been in bad shape.

“Like… do you have any way to control the summoning like you did with picking me out?”

Alfonse turned back to her, looking taken aback. As he reflected upon his answer, a blush came to his cheeks.

“We try to summon people during decent hours to avoid some embarrassing situations. It happened once that we summoned a guy who had been in the middle of bathing… Wounded heroes were summoned a few times, but, nothing that we couldn’t fix with our healers.”

“It’s perfectly random then,” Corrin understood, “isn’t it?”

They had tried to explain to her how certain orbs could provide a precise summoning, depending on a ritual that involved using something linked to the hero they wanted to summon. She had refused to hear much more about it, since it was hard to be angry at the only people she could depend on in this new world.

“I guess it’s fairer that way,” Alfonse sighed.

He knew it wasn’t a perfect angle to look at things, since Corrin’s situation was anything but fair, but she nodded back to him. A few more minutes passed, and she couldn’t handle the inaction.

“How about I go dig for more orbs?” the half-dragon princess offered. “I can’t do anything useful here.”

“At least wait until Anna or Sharena can accompany you.”

“I’ll be fine on my own,” Corrin decided, a challenge in her crimson eyes.

Alfonse understood the matter at stake and held on a sigh. He could have gone with her, but there was still blood on his hands from briefly holding Fjorm, and he really wanted to make sure the poor girl was fine before moving. It was hard to tell why.

“Just stay safe. Don’t be afraid to call for help if anything comes up.”

“Al, can you come here?” Sharena called from the tent, settling both of their minds.

…

On the following morning, Fjorm woke up wrapped in a white cape that smelled like old books and pine. Sharena greeted her with a smile and a small breakfast, Fjorm only swallowing two mouthfuls, her stomach churning in protest. It was hard to remember the last time she’d eaten anything. Corrin had gathered four more orbs by digging and also a racoon corpse, which she had called Anna’s treasure, much to the red-head’s displeasure, even though she played along with the joke if it meant bothering Alfonse.

As soon as it was determined their new protégée would handle the ride, the group collected their things, Alfonse insisting on keeping his cape around Fjorm. He climbed into the saddle and lifted her from Sharena’s hold to have her sit in front of him. Weak as she was, the princess of Nifl laid against his chest, making herself small, a bundle of feathers and bluish blond hair. Her face was less swollen, both of her eyes open now. She looked at the prince from beneath her eyelashes, shifting around as best as she could, his left arm tentatively wrapping around her to secure her stance.

“Careful not to fall,” he warned.

She couldn’t help a small gasp as the very first step of the horse had her bumping into Alfonse a bit roughly. Trying to keep her distances from the man in this current situation was ludicrous. And despite how cold she still felt, she couldn’t help her growing blush. Her face was basically lying in the hollow of his neck and she could smell the pinewood so well now. The white fabric around her was his cape.

“This feels a tad improper.”

She couldn’t see his own blush but guessed it from the nervousness in his voice.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t trust the others to keep you on the saddle.”

“I heard that!” Anna shouted, pretending offense.

Fjorm simply snuggled her face deeper in the white cape, her arms tightly held against her chest, her legs dangling by the side of the horse, counting the bumps her head made against his chest. It was a funny thing, how reassuring it was to know that chest would remain there at every new step his mount took.

“My armor isn’t too rough?” he asked her after a few minutes.

“I’m fine,” she whispered, her brows furrowing as she realized how thin the fabric of his clothes was from looking at the arm he kept around her. “Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine,” Alfonse told her.

But the light brush of her hair against his chin was a bit unnerving, and he was glad for how cold the air was.

…

Corrin had managed to eat enough of her dinner to get Sharena to stop worrying. She pondered if everyone summoned by those powerful orbs got this one-on-one treatment, or if they were trying to make her feel more comfortable with the idea of combating her  brother. Why am I even still here? She mused, and again thought of running away. Even if just to talk to him, find out why he was fighting with this Veronica.  Xander fought for Garon. She reminded herself, and tried to blink away the image of her sister, her dear Elise, being struck down before her as Xander blindly followed their his father’s orders. She dropped her chopsticks and stood from the table.

             She looked around for the path she knew to the lake and bit down on her bottom lip, recalling there was no such place.  She instead tried to remember where Lilith’s shrine was, making her way through the rows of tents.  The air was filled with smoke, cooking meats, unwashed bodies, wet leather, and mud. The familiar scents of a battle camp. Your dying wish was for me to see that peace you died for. Corrin thought, her eyes burning as she thought about Azura fading in her arms, having sung her song that allowed them to defeat Garon.

             “And I’m pulled right back into war against my own family.” She lamented, reaching into her breastplate, tugging on the chain around her neck.  Next to the dragonstone was an elaborate silver pendant, and she bit her lip hard while looking at it. She could almost hear her voice singing to her, you are the ocean’s gray waves.  She would tease Azura saying she had never seen the ocean, so how did she know that she wasn’t lying.  Azura would just roll her eyes at her and call her childish, and resume her song. “If you were here…” she paused, squinting back the burning in her eyes. You’d tell me it’s destiny.  That I was brought here for a reason. She looked around the rows again, and thought she saw the small pond where Lilith was.  She walked towards it, the pendant gripped hard in her hand.

             She sat down next to the water, dipping her fingertips into it.  She missed the lake, sitting on the dock letting her feet dangle, watching the minnows swim at her feet and the odd tickling when they gave her experimental nibbles.  She remembered Azura promising to teach her how to swim, and she bit down hard on her lip as she squinted away another burn in her eyes.  Hinoka tried, but their free time was limited.

             “Corrin?” she flinched, turning to see Lilith coming out of the tent.

             “Hi Lilith.” She greeted, a genuine smile coming to her face.  It was nice to see her dear friend again, regardless of the oddity of the circumstance.

             “Welcome back!” she greeted, chirping excitedly and doing a quick twirl.  “I missed you while you were gone, how did the little adventure go?”

             “I missed you too.” She told her friend about the long ride through the forest, and the strange ruins they came across. She counted their journey as a double success, they found those powerful orbs the Askrians were searching form, and were able to rescue a young woman.  Destiny. She thought, hearing Azura’s voice from the back of her memory.

             “Wow! She’s lucky you guys were out there. What were the chances.” Lilith commented. Corrin nodded her agreement, trailing her fingers in small circles in Lilith’s pond.

             “Azura would have called it destiny.” She spoke her thoughts aloud.  “Elise would probably want to bring her candy to cheer her up and make her feel better.” her voice began to crack, and she bit down on her bottom lip, her sharper canines drawing blood.

             “I miss everyone too.” Lilith sighed, dropping herself and resting her head on Corrin’s knee. “But at least I know they’re happy.” She added. “So I can be happy too.   Even if I miss them.  And at least I get to see you again.”

             “You too Lilith.” She smiled.

                “You must be tired. Why don’t you go to bed?” She suggested.  She wasn’t sure she would find a restful sleep, her restless tossing and turning would probably just keep Lilith up.  But her friend had never complained, and if anything merely offered her words of comfort to chase away the quickly fading memories of the nightmares that caused her to thrash about.

             “Yeah. I should.” She agreed anyway.  The little dragon lifted her head so Corrin could stand up, crouching to enter the small tent and sat on her bedroll tucked up against the tent’s wall so she could peel off her layers of armor, and not for the first time found herself wanting for spare clothing as she slipped under the wool blanket, still in the long sleeved shirt and pants that kept her warm beneath her armor and drifted into another fitful sleep.

_._._._._.

The days were short, and her nights cut even shorter by the memories haunting her. Only in her sleep did Azura let her emotions show, and that wasn’t a decision, the poor girl forced to go over the dreadful events leading her back to her old prison. Norh was cold, and the castle hadn’t changed. The wide bed threatened to swallow her whole, the covers barely helping her stay warm.

Like she could feel warmth anymore.

Garon had won, defeating Corrin and breaking the poor girl as punishment for disobeying his will. Azura couldn’t get Corrin’s screams out of her head or forget the look on Sakura and Hinoka’s faces. It was almost a good thing that Elise was gone. This way the girl didn’t have to see her adopted sister reduced to a bloody corpse.

Azura had been singing to keep everyone fighting, trying to keep up with Corrin despite the ranks of Risen coming back for more. The blue-haired dancer had taken a hit in her rush to follow Corrin, Leo’s sword had dug deep in her scalp, her hair covering the jagged scar that still felt tender even now.

It had been only four weeks since the fateful battle and being taken back by Norh. The lock clicked open as the maid brought her breakfast once again. Azura was already dressed in dark colors, as the country was mourning the crown prince. Only Xander was to be mourned, Elise left forgotten much to Camilla’s dismay.

Azura didn’t look at the maid walking in, instead focusing her attention on the glimpse of sky she could make out through the curtains. They had been nailed into the rock, bars making it impossible to try and pull them open. What little sun could shine on this land, and she couldn’t even see a single ray. She tied her long hair in one heavy braid for this day, since letting it loose felt wrong. Her voice had stopped working. The only sounds she made were from the physical pain inflicted on her whenever she refused to answer a question. She was void of emotion in every waking moment. Like a ghost stuck inside of her own body, frozen down to her core.

Leo had slapped her twice as he questioned her, desperately aiming to learn the weaknesses of the Hoshidians still left. Camilla had visited her once, unable to talk either, simply staring at her, her eyes hooded with fatigue, her skin all puffy and red. Grief was etched into every one of her features and Azura could barely stand the look in those lavender eyes.

She had refused to cry except for her first night in captivity. Time was supposed to mend this fresh wound. Even with so many dear friends lost, it seemed she had no other choice but to survive. She was still looking for a meaning to her life in this place. Garon had made it sound like he wanted to marry her to Leo at some point. Keep her dynasty entwined with his. The prince wasn’t happy about it, already nurturing feelings for another, but feelings were of little matter to their ruler.

_What use am I to him?_

She mustered her best bland look, raising the walls she had carefully laid around her mind to endure the assaults of blond-haired despots over the years, staying rooted to her chair as the sorcerer prince extended her a visit, dressed in actual clothes instead of his suit of armor.

“You’re starting to look like a ghost, princess Azura,” he sighed.

She stayed silent, stilling her limbs to make sure the quivers of fear wouldn’t show as he approached her.

Leo’s ears blushed under his pale hair, shame mixing with embarrassment.

“I’m not going to question you any more than I did,” he declared, his eyes evading hers as he went on, “I… My actions were…”

Azura paled, unsure if she could deal with the real Leo who had been her friend back when they were children. She’d read stories for him and Corrin whenever the siblings found a chance to gather together.

Leo scratched at his hair, collecting himself as best as he could.

“What I meant to say is I’m sorry. My conduct was despicable.”

A flash of pure pain glimpsed at her from his dark eyes, his eyelids quickly hiding it, the raw emotion staying with her as she wondered if he was still mourning his adopted sister.

_I’m just glad Corrin didn’t get to…_

Her thought shattered on itself because while she didn’t want to wish any suffering on Corrin, anything should have been better than a world without her one true friend.

“I’d like to make amends, especially since my father is dead set on our alliance.”

“You could follow his example and take a few courtesans under your wing,” Azura observed, unable to forget the disgust the prince had expressed when he’d first explained the arrangement to her.

Leo blinked at her, the color fading from his face. A broken smile stretched his face, a self-derisive chuckle soon following, Azura gulping down anxiously as she wondered if she wouldn’t have done better to keep her mouth shut.

“That must be the most polite way I was ever rejected,” he sighed from beneath his gloved hand. “I don’t intend to force you into anything, lady Azura, I’ve already been a boar and a brute. I was hoping… Maybe I could give you a tour of the gardens…?” He gestured awkwardly at the room,“You don’t have to stay confined in here.” She couldn’t help raising one brow at him, seeing as she was locked in her room all day long, Leo struggling to keep his cool. “Can I at least _try_ to be nice to my fiancée?”

“Is that truly what we…?”

Her voice shook halfway through the question, Leo wincing since he was a lost cause when it came to comforting people. His guilt eased some of her fear. He looked much smaller without his cape, and yet, it was the glimpse of grief she sensed from him that helped Azura in taking a full breath despite the fact he was standing in the same room as her.

It was a terrible fact that lately, Leo had been the one thing she personified as Garon. The evil King wouldn’t come over to see her, but his will and claws were still finding their ways to her.

Why did any of his children obey him? Why couldn’t they wake up and see how badly their people were suffering while they suffered just as much in their golden cages?

“It may look like a chain, but if you wear this ring, you can go out and around the castle as you please,” he offered, holding up said ring for her to see.

Azura wanted to protest, because her heart had been the one thing belonging to her, but her resignation came back. It wasn’t like there were many sane parts left in that heart to love someone. And walking out of her royally-furnished cell would be so much better than sitting here getting cold.

“No one will ask me to sing?” she asked.

It was a mistake revealing just how terrified she was of such a request, but Leo’s eyes darkened with understanding.

“I know people would love to hear you, but you’ll be free to keep your songs to yourself.”

She heaved a deep sigh of relief, the hint of a smile showing.

“Thank you.”

Azura stood up from her seat as Leo shook his head at her, unsure why she even felt the need to thank him. Her shoulders were drawn inward despite her best efforts to stand strong, her pale hand reaching out. The prince carefully kept his distance as he dropped the golden band in her palm.

“Am I free with that?”

“Well, as long as you don’t try to… What’s that light?!”

Azura blinked, her eyes unable to see through the veil of darkness covering her. The sensations in her limbs told her she was falling, but she didn’t move. Her stomach did though, and she was glad she hadn’t touched her breakfast. Bile burning up her throat was enough.

Had the ring been cursed by Iago? Had Leo trapped her in a different prison? What was happening to her?

The dizzying impression halted as suddenly as it had started, her knees buckling and hitting dirt, her hands catching her just in time. For some reason, the lance that had been kept in Garon’s armory after her forced returned to Nohr thumped on the ground by her side. She would learn soon enough, the weapon had been summoned with her.

“Azura?” A female voice asked her.

Looking up with a startled expression, the princess held her breath, instantly understanding she wasn’t in Nohr or Hoshido. This didn’t even look like Valla.

“You know my name?” she whispered, her face and stance guarded as her fingers wrapped on the hilt of her lance.

She had no idea if the weeks spent in isolation had left her too weak to lift the weapon, but she wasn’t going to hesitate when she didn’t know what her situation was. The blond lady looking down to her with a kind smile and empty hands looked gentle enough, but the man standing behind with his hood pulled up and his hands buried in his pockets reminded her too much of past captors.

“We summoned you here. It’s complicated to explain, but hopefully, we can be good friends when you get used to Askr. I’m princess Sharena and this is Kiran.”

The man waved at her nonchalantly. Azura wondered if she was going to visit many more worlds in her life.

“Does this mean you could have summoned anyone at all and picked me of all people?” the blue-haired princess asked as she struggled to her feet.

She still felt quite light-headed, but her lance served as a good crutch.

Sharena frowned at the flatness of her voice.

“We…”

“It was a bad choice. I only bring bad luck to people,” the singer sighed, closing her eyes shut as she willed away the pain usually coming with that thought.

It was her truth and she would accept it.

“That’s such a sad thing to say!” Sharena protested. “I heard you were both a dancer and a singer and we need all the support we can get!”

Azura wanted to ask why she should be so inclined to even give lend them her support. She’d been bullied into taking a side before, trapped by circumstances and this felt only like a repeat of her fate to be an eternal prisoner. Bitter words threatened to cross her lips, but it was bile rising up that made its way up, the princess bending over and dropping her lance as she tried to hold back the urge to retch. It was to no avail, her breakfast from another world greeting the sand and stone on the ground.

“Oh dear…” Kiran turned as white as his coat.

“That’s the travelling hitting you,” Sharena explained, apologizing as she knelt by the girl to hold her hair for her. “I’m so sorry…”

She sounded genuine and it made Azura wonder if maybe this time wouldn’t be different. She let Sharena help her back to her feet once the worst of it was over, feeling self-aware as she tried wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. Her dress was covered in sand and dubious stains now, making her skin itch.

“We’ll get you to our camp, so you can clean up and catch some rest. My brother is better at explaining the situation than I am,” Sharena apologized once more.

Azura followed her, remaining tense until she saw one gray-haired girl walking between the tents. The lance she’d been holding nearly dropped from her hands at the sight. It had to be wrong, she remembered her blood on the mud and Garon’s laugh, but those red eyes looked quite alive.

_Corrin._

To be continued…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 


	3. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fluffy friendship chapter we needed for the girls to get better after all the losses they had to face. Please let us know what you think!

    _Azura_

    It had to be impossible. But there she was, standing with the Askrian leadership.  She blinked, rubbing the heel of her hand to her eyes and pondered for a moment if she had dozed off in her tent.  But when she opened them again and still saw that familiar face through the narrow row between the tents doubt left her mind, her energy poured into her feet as she broke into a run.

    “Azura?” she cried out, voice cracking and raising in question at the end of her name. The blue-haired woman seemed rooted to her spot, but when she came close to her, Corrin brought her arms up and wrapped them around her.  She failed to halt her charge before embracing her, and together they crashed to the ground with a mutual grunt.

    The impact seemed to jar Azura from her stupor.  Corrin’s arms were still wrapped around her waist, digging uncomfortably into her lower back, her face was buried against her chest, Corrin murmuring something she couldn’t quite understand.  A familiar desire to tease her rose in instinct, and for a moment she forgot that Corrin was _dead_. It took a moment for Azura to realize that Corrin wasn’t mumbling against her chest.   _She’s weeping._ She knit her brows and looked down, finally lifting her own arms in response and wound them around Corrin’s back.

    “It’s all right.” she spoke before she could think of words, and they only made the sobs stronger as she stuttered on breath and in spite of how her arms were pinned, somehow embraced her tighter.  She couldn’t recall ever seeing Corrin so upset, save for the death of Elise.  She blinked, a thought invading her might that drained the color from her face, head suddenly feeling far too heavy as her pulse raced in her chest.   _I’m dead in some other world._

    “Azura…” Corrin mumbled, her words difficult to discern between the sobs.

    “I’m right here.”  She replied quickly.  Both women were brought back to nights Corrin would wake with nightmares, soothed by her comrades with promises of _I’m here, you’re here, we’re both right here._ Having her repeat it until her breathing would calm, and repeat it she began.

    “I… I’m here.” she stuttered, finally releasing her embrace and pulling back, sitting on her heels, pressing a fist beneath her nose.  Azura sat up, feeling her eyes burning and her throat beginning to burn.  She locked with those familiar red eyes, swimming with tears.

    “You’re…. you’re here.” she whispered, the words coming with difficulty. The crack in Azura’s voice was not unnoticed by Corrin, a frown adding lines to her face.

    “What happened?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. “How.. how are you? How are you here?”  The question caused Azura to blink, sitting up straighter.  Footsteps finally pulled her attention to something other than the miracle of her friend, alive, very much alive, sitting before her.

    “Umm. Perhaps we can get you two somewhere more private to talk?” The blonde woman in the troop suggested. Her name had already fallen from her memory, as did most of the information the Askrians had tried to give her.

    “Yeah. Lilith! Lilith will be so happy to see you!” Corrin jumped to her feet, holding out her hand, smiling down at her.  She smiled, a genuine smile that pulled on her eyes and lifted her brows, and accepted it.

    “Lilith is here too?” Azura asked while Corrin helped pull her to her feet. “Now I wish I had some onigiri with me.”  The bird-like dragon’s favorite shrine offering was the simple rice balls, though she had always stuffed it with some marinated fish.  She wondered if this world was an afterlife,and made a mental note to ask these Askrians more about how this summoning went. Perhaps Garon had cursed the ring Leo had held out to her to finally end her.   _Maybe Lilith can make another pocket-world where we can just rest and catch up away from the rest of this._ she mused, noticing how many people were suddenly lining the narrow path watching this odd little show.

    “Yeah! Come on, I’ll show you the way.” The excitement in her tone was simply so damned _Corrin_. She wanted to get away from all these curious eyes, though she scanned the rows for other familiar faces that died in the war.   _Elise must be here too. Somewhere._ She was yet to decide if she hoped to see Xander. She nodded at the ash-haired girl, and looked to the Askrians.

    “I’ll call upon you later once you two catch up.” Sharena suggested. Her brother stepped up and she held up her hand, looking over her shoulder. “That’s fine, right Kiran?” she asked, and got a shrug in answer.

    “I don’t think she’ll listen to us right now anyway if we tried to pull her away from someone she knows. Besides,” she used a thumb to gesture, “this one here can turn into a dragon when pissed off.  I don’t recommend pulling our new friend away right now for a chit-chat.”

    “Thanks Anna.” Corrin smiled, earning her a confused look from Azura who was almost offended on her behalf.  The red-head shooed them off, and they gave a polite nod before walking down the row.  With the show over spectators returned to their tents to speculate, and Anna turned to her companions after letting her gaze wander over the camp for a moment. “We should really consider charging rent for these tents. Imagine if we asked for just _one_ copper per person per month? Think of how much gold that would- _hrghk!”_ she gagged at the end of her sentence as Alphonse gripped the back of her collar and jerked her away to follow him and the others back to their own tents to continue their debate over their next course of action.

    “I can’t believe you’re actually here!” Corrin’s smile was almost infectious enough to draw one on Azura’s face.  But she couldn’t quite bring herself to be so cheerful about the afterlife.  And it seemed there was some sort of war even in here.   _How fair is it I lose one war, finally die, only to discover the afterlife is more war? Is this all there is?_ she started to muse, but Corrin’s statement finally registered. Why would Corrin be _happy_ that she was dead?  

    “Where is _here_?” she asked, finally casting aside her preconception that this was some cursed afterlife.  

    “It’s called Askr.  They’re… they’re caught in a war. Like we were…” the cheerful tone in Corrin’s voice dropped, her eyes remained steadfast forward as they continued through the rows of tents. “I don’t know how they gather the information but they know about people from all different worlds.  They knew about our war. They use these odd stones to summon people here.” she summarized, curling her lip slightly. “That didn’t make things much less confusing did it?” she asked, turning to Azura and lifting  a brow.

    “I suppose I understand.  So… you were summoned here?” she asked.

    “Yeah.” her expression fell, head tilting down. “I was trying to learn how to sew with Sakura.  She thought having something to occupy my hands would help me feel better. What were you doing when it happened?”

    “Feel better?” Azura started, ignoring the question. Corrin stopped walking then, biting down on her lip.  There was a pause before she answered the question, Azura allowing her the time she needed.

    “I wasn’t sure what to do with myself.  Training, war. It was all I knew.  And after…” she paused again, brow knitting and expression turning distant. Her hands clasped together, fingertips digging deep into the backs of her hands, knuckles flushing white. “Elise, Xander, Kaze… you.”

    “Perhaps we should continue this in private?” Azura answered, having to clear her throat to find her voice. Corrin nodded, scratching at the back of her hands causing the dancer to frown.  She reached out, grabbing her friend by the hand and giving it a squeeze to cease her nervous motions.

    “Yeah.” She agreed, nodding.  They spent the rest of their walk in silence, both of their minds racing with questions, and the questions they thought the other would ask.  Azura tried to take in details of her surroundings.  She disliked how trapped she felt here, though she assumed if this was indeed a war party they had selected quite the defensible location.  But if she wanted to run, where would she go?

    “Down here, you see that little pond?” Corrin pointed after changing directions. “Okay it’s more of a large puddle… but that’s Lilith’s tent. Though she likes to sleep at the pond.” Upon their approach Lilith took notice of the woman walking beside Corrin. She let out an excited chirp, twirling for a moment before rushing towards them,

    “Azura!” she cheered, the dancer smiling back at her.

    “It’s wonderful to see you Lilith. Though I’m afraid I have no onigiri on me.” She chuckled a bit, “nor do I have some fish.  I only just arrived to… what did you call this place?” Azura turned her attention to Corrin.

    “Askr.”

    “How far away from Nohr are we?” she wondered aloud.

    “I… I have no idea.” Corrin answered, Azura discerning from her tone the question had yet to strike her. “We can ask Sharena and Alphonse when you see them.  They’ll probably want you to go to their tent to explain everything.”

    “This camp is huge, do they typically dine and talk with every individual that they call upon? Even assuming a dozen people a day they would have had to do exclusively that to accrue such an army.”  to this question Corrin shook her head, shrugging a bit.

    “I don’t really get it all the way myself. But it’s only some people that get special treatment.  Yesterday I saw that shrine lighting up like there was a lightning storm but they just got one big lecture together from the looks of things.” she provided, chewing on her bottom lip, “I should make it a point to ask them more about those orbs…” her cheeks heat up at the thought she was helping them collect such powerful items when she understood so little about them. “Well come on in, you probably want to sit down and rest?” she offered, walking over to the tent.  She thumbed the toggles and opened the flap, gesturing for Azura to go in first. 

    The blue haired woman entered, and took her surroundings in.  It was fairly large, which surprised her a bit since Corrin had explained this was originally Lilith’s tent.  There was a small low table, lacking a chair meaning that to be used one would have to kneel before it.  There was a bed roll that looked hardly large enough to just fit one averaged sized human, a wooden crate at its feet.  The tent’s material was thin, but still provided some degree of protection from the wind outside.

    “It’s not much but it’s temporary home.” Corrin chimed from behind her, almost making her startle.

    “No treehouse, but its something.” Azura answered. She walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, blowing out a long breath of air and rubbing her face roughly with both hands.  She looked up to see Corrin still standing in the doorway.

    “I won’t bite.” she invited. She was suddenly acting almost as timid as the day they met.  She took note of the girl, she was different from the one she remembered so dearly.  Her hair was longer, and the circles around her eyes were darker.  Her clothes even seemed a bit loose, rather than the form-fitting black uniform she wore beneath her armor.  A scar ran from just before her ear, leaving an odd shaped earlobe before continuing on her neck.

    Corrin crossed the room, sitting next to her on the bed as close to the tent wall as she could get herself. She idly tucked a lock of hair behind her ear in an all-too-familiar gesture.  Whenever her hair had grown too long Corrin would almost obsessively tuck it behind her ear to keep it out of her face, until Camilla finally got her a headband and told her to stop fussing or her hair would become oily.

    “Where did that scar happen?” Azura asked, and almost slapped a hand over her mouth at the rudeness of her question.  Corrin reached up and touched the spot, thumb playing with the partially mangled earlobe.

    “Got hit with a dragonslayer blade.  Never healed right.” she shrugged. “Don’t really remember which battle. But Sakura gave me one heck of a lecture, you sang to give me a little more energy to get back up.” a memory stuck Azura, of singing for a wounded Corrin during battle, getting a side grin that gave her a flash of those elongated canines before she rushed back into battle, Sakura calling out to be more careful her festals couldn’t cure everything.

    “You should let me braid your hair.” Azura asked after a moment.  “You always braided mine, I never got to return the favor.” she added, her hands folded neatly in her nap, eyes moving away from the dragon princess to taking in more of her surroundings, though there wasn’t much more to see.

    “I usually just pull it to a ponytail, guess I can try something new.” Corrin answered her, reaching up to pull the ribbon that held it up. Her ashen hair fell in wavy locks around her shoulders, framing her face in a way that made her look far younger. She shifted on the bed so her back was to Azura, the other woman scooching closer to her so she could better reach her hair.  As she divided it into three locks, she felt the old urge to sing rise in the back of her throat, and bit down on her lip to keep it back. Instead, to fill the silence, she heard Corrin humming a song, which cut off sharply after only a few notes.

    “Why’d you stop?” she asked.  She almost finished humming the interrupted notes back to Corrin to encourage her to continue, but her shoulders were starting to shake.

    “That… that song.” she stammered her words, hesitating. The rest of her sentence sounded crazy to her own head.  With Azura sitting there right behind her how could she state so plainly that that accursed song had taken her away?  Then she began to wonder… had Azura merely been summoned during that horrible battle with Garon? “What were you doing when you were summoned?” she asked in place of her explanation.  Azura squinted one eye skeptically, but decided not to probe about the deflection just yet.

    “I was in my… room.” the word came out more difficult, that dark and cold room more of a cell. The small tent threatened to bring back those feelings of claustrophobia, the sense of being trapped forever.  She looked over at the tent flap, the toggles undone and it flapped open lightly in the breeze. _I could bolt from here right now should I want to_ she told herself, and found comfort in the words; though dashing from Corrin’s side after finding her deceased friend very much alive and well was not what she truly wanted. “Leo came in.  Garon had betrothed us and he was coming to give me a ring, so I could walk around the castle more.  I thought it was the ring that brought me here…” her voice grew an airy quality as she mused over the final words, tilting her head slightly recalling Corrin mentioning something about orbs when casually talking about summoning. _Maybe it was just a coincidence_.

    “You weren’t… you weren’t singing?” Corrin asked.  Azura noted that her hand went up to her neck, though she couldn’t tell what she was doing.

“Are you all right?” she asked, tilting her head further to attempt to see what she was doing.  Her hand was over her chest, her thumb idly brushing over her armor. Corrin lifted her arm further, reaching into her collar to tug on a metal chain, pulling it loose from where it was tucked in her armor, holding it high so Azura could see.  She nearly gasped as she looked at the object tangling on its end.

“My pendant?” Azura asked, and pressed a hand to her chest and was surprised to find it still against her chest. _I’m obviously not the same Azura as the one in her world.  Nor is she the Corrin from mine_.  She bit down on her lip, tears stinging her eyes.  She tried to refocus on her braiding of Corrin’s hair.

“You aren’t her. But you are her… it’s really confusing.” Corrin admitted, a scratch in her voice. “You… she? died singing to keep Garon imprisoned so we could fight his army and finally defeat him.” she continued, bringing the pendant back into her own lap. _You died… I couldn’t even talk to you one last time Garon just struck you down. Did I not sing hard enough? Did… did I kill you through my inaction?_ She took in a breath, letting it out slow, counting in her head to try and regain a sense of control and ground herself. To push away the image of Corrin’s mangled corpse under Garon’s draconic claw, and instead of the princess sitting cross-legged on this small bed before her, whose hair was in her hands while she braided it in return of the favor given to her before battle countless times. “I’m just so happy to see you again.” Corrin broke the silence, and Azura let a small smile come to her face.

“I’m happy too.” she answered, sighing as Corrin resumed humming her song.

“Perfect.” Azura declared once she tied off the end of Corrin’s hair with the ribbon she had been using.  The dragon princess reached up to run her finger over the tight braid and smiled,

    “I usually just pull it into a ponytail off to the side to keep it out of the way, and so no one could pull it from behind.” she explained, and recalled her brothers.  Loneliness crept back into her heart for a moment before Azura drew her back to the present preventing her from falling back entirely.

 

“That’s the same reason you cut it short.” she answered without thinking, her face growing hot when she realized how odd it sounded.  She played with the end of Corrin’s braid for a moment before the girl turned to look over her shoulder, shifting so she was sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs dangling over the edge, foot tapping against the ground.

“I used to think about cutting my hair short when I was little but my… Garon used to tell me it was un ladylike and Xander used to threaten to lock me in my room until it grew back out if I ever cut it short.” Corrin flushed at her explanation, hands folded in her lap. “Camilla would always tell me my hair was pretty long and kept trying to talk me into keeping it down instead of ponytails all the time.” she continued. “Well we should get you up to the command tent before Alfonse and Sharena get impatient with me.” she suggested.

“Are they trustworthy?” Azura asked.

“I think so.” Corrin answered with a shrug. Azura wanted to trust Corrin’s judgement, but remained skeptical.  “We better get going then.” She stood up, straightening her skirt a bit and giving her hair a quick comb-through with her fingers.  “After you.” she gestured. Corrin smiled at her and walked through the tent flap, holding it open for Azura to come out. She squinted, adjusting to the brightness outside surprised the tent did such a good job obscuring light.  

“You never told me what happened when you were brought here.” Azura stated in way of a question.  Her heart pleaded for her to answer _fighting Garon._ But she knew this wasn’t the same Corrin she lost.

“Walking around the lake.” she answered. “I have trouble sleeping at night and went for a walk.” She left out the part where, like she did nearly every night, she debated throwing the accursed pendant into the water.  Her hatred for the object that murdered her friend conflicted with the deep sentimentality causing her to cling to that last relic.

“I have trouble sleeping too.” Azura concurred.  “Perhaps we could bunk together for a short while. The idea of sleeping alone in this place is… unsettling. We may each sleep better with a familiar presence nearby.”

“Yeah!  I’ve been meaning to give Lilith her tent back anyway. Though she sleeps by the water so I don’t know if it even makes a difference…” her nose scrunched up with thought, getting a chuckle out of Azura. _Gods, I missed her laugh. When was the last time I heard anyone laugh?_ she thought to herself.  “Just hope you don’t need too much personal space. Most tents are pretty darn small. Lilith’s is just big as a special case. I guess they just think she was adorable.” Corrin explained.

“Have you thought about running away?” Azura asked her after an extended silence. Corrin paused for several seconds before answering with a short nod.

“Several times. But I don’t know where to go. We’re surrounded by forest and mountains. And these are people asking for my help… and they’re my best chance at getting close enough to my brother to _talk_ to him.”

“Xander is here?” Azura asked, brows shooting up.  Hope glimmered in her heart again.

“According to Alfonse and Sharena yeah. They’ll probably explain more but I’ll give you the rundown they gave me.” Corrin started, and explained everything she could remember about this war against the girl Veronica. The more she talked, the most pessimistic Azura began to feel about their circumstances.  She didn’t think she was ready for another war again.  She curled her fingers at her side, tempted to reach out for Corrin’s hand, for that familiar calloused grip, to remind her what friendly contact she felt like.  Sitting on that small bed roll braiding Corrin’s hair was the calmest she had felt in weeks. But she halted, feeling a bit awkward walking down the rows needlessly holding Corrin’s like a lost child.  

“Maybe once he sees you he’ll figure…” Azura stopped her thought. Simply seeing Corrin was unlikely to get him to change sides.  She watched him cut her down, wipe her blood against his horse’s saddle blanket to resheath his sword and gallop away with his army without even offering her a proper burial.  “Maybe he’ll come to reason.” she forced the words out, reaching out to grip Corrin’s shoulder. “You know. Now that I think of it. It’s quite odd seeing you without your armor.” she commented.

“Oh.” Corrin looked down at herself and shrugged.  “I have it with me, I was wearing it when they summoned me but it’s literally _all_ I had for clothing.  I mean, unless I want to stink I have to wash my clothes so they gave me these.” Corrin explained, and looked over to Azura.  She wasn’t in her usual dancer attire, rather she was wearing a more traditional red Nohr dress that was more modest than her white and blue garment. “Weird to see you in red.”

“It feels weird to _be_ in red.”

“I’m sure they’ll give you some clothes too.”

“How do they have the money to buy so many uniforms?”

“I don’t think they do. Most people I see walking around look like they have their own clothes.” Corrin explained, then began to wonder why she was given preferential treatment. Was it all part of their ploy to sic her on her own brother?  She made a mental note to ask them. When the command tent came into view after making a turn in the rows she pointed, the pair finishing their walk. 

Corrin could make out voices on the other side and paused, wondering if they had started some meeting that she would be intruding on.  She absentmindedly rubbed at her cheek, remembering a time her father had visited her tower when Xander was there for lessons and the mistake it was to enter the room that served as her office while they were talking.

“Should we go in?” Azura asked when she paused.  Corrin hesitated to answer, then shook her head.

“Sounds like they’re talking.” she answered.

“Well they are expecting us.” Azura tried to reassure her.  

“Yeah you’re right.” She looked for a bell, or a piece of wood to knock on, or anything else to announce their presence besides simply walking into the tent.  “Hello?” she called.  The conversation inside stopped, and after a moment the tent flap opened and Sharena broke into a smile.

“Hey! Perfect timing, we were just talking about you.” then she quickly put up her hands, “nothing bad I promise.” she invited them in and the pair looked at the table.  Corrin recognized all but two faces, cocking her head slightly and waited for Sharena to offer an explanation.  Azura was a pace behind her, and Corrin finally started walking towards the two open seats at the wooden table when she felt her friend’s hand on her shoulder.  She sat down, and was grateful that the other empty seat was right beside her, and on the side of the table closest to the tent’s opening.

    Once sat down Corrin took stock of her surroundings.  On the table was a pitcher, mead she assumed.  Plates with bread and fish, a fact she found curious and wondered if they had to trade for that fish or if there was a body of water nearby.  Sharena introduced Azura to everybody; Kiran in his white hooded jacket, face down in his folded arms on the table, partially asleep if his breathing pattern meant anything. Alfonse was drumming his fingers on the table and based on how he was vibrating Azura assumed he was bouncing his leg.  Anna was tilting her chair back, a mug in her hand waving when she was introduced, and at last Sharena repeated her own name.

They began to explain their situation to her, and she gripped her hands in her lap until her knuckles flushed white. She bit down on her tongue, eyes focused on the table to keep herself from trying to read too hard into their expressions. She let out a hard breath through her nose, almost expecting someone to slap her in the back of the head for the disrespect. She flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up quickly to catch Corrin’s face.  She had a soft smile on her face, and Azura took a long breath to let it out slowly and released the grip on her own hands.  She was provided several seconds to speak, silence hanging in the air.  Anna winced, pouring herself more mead and taking a long swig, eyes shifting to Kiran still fast asleep and gave him a hard kick in the shin.

“Wake up already!” she barked, the man flinching and sitting up, looking around blearily before leaning against the table, this time to pick at the half-eaten piece of bread on his plate.

“Corrin… I know this is a lot to ask of you but we’ve given you several days to get acclimated. We want you to join our ranks as a tactician.  Like you did back in your world.”

“Do not make me murder my own brother.” She demanded in answer.

“We are asking you to defeat Veronica.” Sharena clarified.  Her gaze turned to Anna, lips thin as she conveyed an unspoken threat, Anna holding up her palms and shaking her head. “But we need your help.  We’ll introduce you to the other tacticians soon” Sharena continued. “We’ve had a tent erected for you in the tactician quarters of the camp.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised I think, it’s bigger than the tent you’ve been staying in.”

“Are you bribing me?” Corrin asked, lifting a brow.

“Not at all!” Alfonse interjected before his sister could. “All tacticians get the same accommodations.” He explained.

“What about Azura?” Corrin asked, giving the young woman’s hand a squeeze.

“She can stay with Genny in the support quarter until we get our latest supply caravan to put up a tent for her and the other latest summons.” Sharena offered.

“May I stay with Corrin instead?” Azura asked quickly. She flexed her fist, slipping her hand out of Corrin’s to grip her own hands, knuckles white, hands aching as she dug her fingertips into the backs of them.

“Of course.” Sharena answered, her brows shooting up.  “I don’t know why I didn’t just think of that in the first place…” she trailed off with a mumble. “I’ll have an extra bedroll and crate brought to Corrin’s tent.”

“Thank you” Azura answered, gripping her hands harder. Her eyes were locked on a knot in the wood table, her brows a bit furrowed as she tried to focus on the words being said over the drone of her pulse in her ears.   _Prisoner again. You’re just a prisoner again._ her mind insisted.  Her shoulders tensed, making a muscle stand out in her neck, and she licked her lips before pressing them together.

“Perhaps we shall let our new ally get some rest,” Alphonse cut in after hearing the dancer’s shoulder click when she shifted in her chair slightly.

“I am quite tired.” Azura agreed, wanting out of this tent that suddenly felt too hot.  She glanced over at the tent’s opening, looking for something barring her exit. She flinched when she saw movement from the corner of her eye, settling herself and standing up beside Corrin.  

“I’m gonna finish drinking and eating, you guys go pass out” Anna saluted. “Though you didn’t touch your food. Mess hall should still be open, get something to eat before the cooks get pissed and go to bed.” she suggested.

“Are you hungry Corrin?” Azura asked,

“No, I ate not long ago.” she answered.

“I think I just want to lie down and just process.”

“I need to check on our wounded ally.” Alfonse explained before getting up to leave the tent as well.  Corrin wondered why said wounded ally was being personally looked over by one of the Askrian leaders or if their latest battle just had so few casualties he could see to them himself.

 Kiran was still picking at his food, Anna taking to flicking crumbs of bread at him getting a middle finger in return before both of them chuckled a little and Anna went back to drinking her mead.

    “We’re a little short on blankets… but there’s a market in the next town over.” Sharena started.  “To the south, I can have one of our troops familiar with the area escort you there.” The pair following her tried to listen and retain information as she explained that they would indeed be paid for their services, though some of the details of it failed to register.  “Here we are,” she stated, smiling and gesturing at the tent she was standing in front of. 

    It was larger than the one Corrin had been sharing with Lilith, and made of a thicker material. The front flap was covered by a banner that detailed Corrin’s status as Tactician bearing the Askrian colors of white and gold.  Sharena pulled the banner aside, the toggles on the tent flap were already undone and gestured for Corrin and Azura to enter.  The pair ducked under the Askrian’s arm to enter.  There was a thick bedroll on the floor with a wool blanket folded on top of the wooden crate at the foot of it.  On the other side of the tent was a desk with a chair, furnished with parchment, an ink bottle, and a quill. A crude map was on the center of the desk, small wooden figures.  It took a moment for Corrin to notice a small sack on the center of the bed roll, and she wondered if it was more clothing.  

    “That’s just a little something for you.” Sharena explained, gesturing to the small satchel.  Corrin hesitated for a moment but gave the blonde woman a smile and walked over to the bed roll, kneeling down to open it.  She pulled out a white and gold tunic with the Askrian emblem on the chest, “That’s for you to wear on missions over your armor. So the troops know you’re their tactician.” she explained. “And there’s a little something else too,” she brought her hand up to her mouth, chewing her thumbnail.  Corrin reached into the sack and pulled out a small wooden dragon, painted in an array of colors.  She smiled at it, her thumb brushing over the wood.

    “This is very nice of you!” she cheered. “But-”

    “Not buts. We got off to a bad start… we’re asking an awful lot of you.” she explained.  Corrin walked over to the desk and placed the dragon figure atop it, turning back to Sharena.

    “Thank you.”

    “We’ll have someone come drop off a bed roll for Azura.” Sharena explained.  “A uniform as well.” she added when she noticed the dancer’s dress. “Before you protest we issue everyone we summon a uniform until they have a chance to go to the market to purchase their own clothing.”  the explanation didn’t ease doubts, the pair wondering how they managed the coin to pay for that many uniforms.  Corrin herself was never able to provide such for her own army, relying on them to provide their own clothes.  Food sometimes had felt like a stretch. _But home for everyone was obtainable.  Everyone here was pulled from another reality. No money, no clothes, no resources. Nothing._   _How do they motivate an entire army in those circumstances?_ Corrin mused. She wasn’t even sure herself how she felt about fighting with these people. With few other options, she reluctantly chose to place her trust in them, rather than fall into scepticism.

    “Thank you Sharena.” Corrin smiled. Sharena returned this smile, wishing them good rest and parting from the tent. “Azura you can go lie down, I’ll wait for the other bed roll if you’re tired.” Corrin suggested, sitting down at the desk chair.  

    “I’ll wait. It feels rude not to. But thank you for the offer.” She smiled, then looked down at her clasped hands. Her throat began to hurt, her eyes burning. She squinted, biting down on her bottom lip and sitting on the foot of the bed roll.

    “Azura?” Corrin asked, her brows knit. She stood up, crossing the small space and kneeling down beside her.

    “I… I feel so confused.” she admitted. “I was a prisoner… locked away like some treasure.  I would have done anything to escape. I get pulled here and… I’m just so _happy_ to not be back there anymore. But now I realize I’m just in another war again. I’m just trapped again.”  The words came before she could halt them, and by the _gods_ did it feel good not to for once.  “I missed talking to you.” She added in a whisper.

    “I missed you too…” Corrin answered, leaning her head against Azura’s shoulder. “But I’m here now. And you’re here now.” she suggested, nudging Azura’s shoulder with her own.  The dancer let out a light chuckle, tilting her head to lean it against Corrin’s.  She flushed a bit, relaxing her palms in her lap. 

    “I’m so tired I could fall asleep just like this.” Azura admitted. Corrin thought about offering her the bed roll again but knew that Azura would refute it.

    “I wonder what everyone back home is wondering.” Corrin asked aloud. “Camilla must be losing her mind.” she frowned, and wished there was a way to get a message back home that she was okay. But there were people _here_ who needed her, and Azura was here.  She wanted to focus on that, something happy to latch onto.

    “Garon is losing his mind.” Answered simply, and couldn’t help the smile at the idea that the bastard had something go against his plans. While not the kindest to her, she did at the least hope that no harm would come to Leo as a result of her disappearance. Corrin frowned at this, sitting up so she could turn to look at her,

    “Garon?” she asked.  “You were still fighting him?” Azura hesitated, not wanting to ruin this little bubble of serenity she had found.  She let out a long breath, hanging her head and weaving her fingers together again. “We lost the war Corrin.” she stated. “You…” she paused, knitting her brows together. “Her? I… I don’t know. You were struck down by Garon.  During the final confrontation… we lost. Nohr won.” she continued. Corrin flinched, her neutral expression furrowing, eyes downcast. “Please don’t dwell on it.” Azura asked, seeing the shift. “I didn’t want to make you sad again.”

    “In my world… we won.” Corrin explained, wondering if this would help ease some of the pain she could hear in Azura’s voice. But a truth got stuck in her throat, unsure she had the courage to admit it.  She remembered it. She remembered being slain by Garon.  She woke, Lilith by her bedside, presented with a choice. And the option to accept rest had been almost overwhelmingly tempted. Had she simply caved to temptation in some alternate world? Had she given in to her own desire instead of helping everyone to win the war?  She bit down on her lip and looked away, unable to meet Azura’s gaze until she could banish the thought from her head. 

    “That’s wonderful.” Azura answered, a genuine smile returning to her features. “At least there’s one world where he was stopped. I wonder if this means there are more? But… I’m too tired to think about it much more.” she admitted, and yawned, pressing the back of her fist over her mouth.

    “Oh don’t do that-” Corrin complained before yawning herself. Azura chuckled, apologizing, and asking how they defeated Garon.  Corrin frowned, sitting up straighter causing Azura to sit up herself. A silence hung between them, and she knit her brows.

    “I didn’t mean to…” she trailed off, not sure what words she was searching for.  But Corrin quickly shook her head, looking up and smiling.

    “Together, that’s how.” she provided.

    “I can almost hear Takumi rolling his eyes at your sentimentality.” Azura chuckled. Their conversation was interrupted by a voice outside the door.  Corrin told Azura to stay put, getting up herself to answer the call. A tall unfamiliar man in a green uniform held out a bedroll and wool blanket to her; she thanked him and watched him walk a few paces away before letting the tent close, dropping the roll to the carpeted floor of the tent before fumbling with the togglers to keep the flap closed for the night.  

    “I’ll set it up for you.” Corrin stated quickly when Azura motioned to move.  She gave her friend adequate space away from her own bed roll, and laid the blanket down for her.  Once finished they swapped places, Corrin taking her roll and Azura lying down on the newly obtained one.  Corrin began to lift her shirt off, and the dancer felt a hard blush coat her cheeks until she realized that her friend had an undershirt beneath the loose top that she was rolling up to use as a pillow, lying down on it and pulling the wool blanket up to her shoulder. “Do you need something for your head?” Corrin asked.

    “I can ball up part of the blanket.” Azura answered, lying on her side.  She rolled so she was facing Corrin, startled by how powerful of the feeling of being trapped was when she was staring at the desk, the tent growing darker as dusk fell upon them. “I feel like a child sleeping so early.”

    “You’re tired, sleep.” Corrin insisted, yawning again.  Azura caught her yawn, and let her eyes close with the sharp exhale.  She curled up on her side, a habit that had developed during the weeks since the fall of Hoshido.

***

    A sudden yelp jerked Corrin from her sleep and she was on her feet, her palm slapping against her thigh as she cursed the fact she hadn’t ensured Blazing Yato was beside her when she fell asleep. Her eyes flicked around the tent until she realised Azura was sitting upright, palms over her face.

    “Azura?” she asked, knitting her brows together.

    “Corrin?” she asked back, her voice high with a scratch to it.

    “Are you okay?” she asked, and the dancer nodded.

    “Nightmare… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” she bit down on her lip, hands folded in her lap.  “Like I said… I haven’t slept well in a long time.” She remembered that empty room, how cold and drafty it would get when the wind blew.  How damned lonely she had grown without companionship. The din of the tent-city around them brought her back to the war, and she felt like she was losing her mind. Conflicted between harsh memories of war, and the overwhelming seclusion, nightmares invaded her sleep with fractured images that the only sense she could pull from them was the intense fear and isolation they made her feel. “I’m not…” she hesitated, feeling childish and curled her lip, lying back down. “Go back to sleep.”

    “You’re not what?” Corrin probed, brows knit together.

    _I’m not ready for another war._

    “I’m not sleeping well tonight” Azura answered instead.  “I was so alone in that tower…” she trailed off, unsure how to face the thoughts in her head.

“Is that why you can’t sleep tonight?” Corrin asked.  

“I don’t know.” Azura answered in herest.

“Move your bed roll closer. Maybe if you have someone you can see or hear you won’t feel lonely and you can sleep” she suggested. Azura smiled in the darkness, nodding at the suggestion and whispering a quiet _okay_ before getting up to move everything over until she was just beside the other princess. She laid down, her heart  racing in her chest for a moment before she closed her eyes, finding her center to will herself to calm down. Corrin reached out a hand, Azura feeling her fingers brush her arm before she reached out in response, gripping her hand and closing her eyes as serenity found her once more.

“Sorry I woke you. Goodnight Corrin.”

“Goodnight.”

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come soon, with more Alfonse and the first mission of Corrin and Azura!

**Author's Note:**

> Who’s that lady in the snow? We’re finishing the setting up of the story with the next chapter, please let us know what you think!


End file.
